Celebrities plan mad dash to see in year twice

By
Jo Casamento

IT IS New Year's Eve partying on a scale that only the rich and famous can do.

IT IS New Year's Eve partying on a scale that only the rich and famous can do.

A slew of celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx, flew into Sydney on Friday, reportedly as part of their plan to welcome in 2013 in Sydney before driving to Canberra airport to return to Las Vegas for a second tilt at New Year revelry.

The star pack also included the Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford, the DJ Samantha Ronson, the Glee star Matthew Morrison and the Arrow actor Colton Haynes - the latter four all appearing as guests at Boombox at Marquee nightclub at the Star on Monday night. The Grammy-nominated DJ Dirty South is also on the bill.

While a spokeswoman for the Star would only confirm the stars were part of the official line-up at Marquee, insiders say DiCaprio arrived on a private Boeing 747 jet with Ronson, Lindsay Lohan's former girlfriend, and 15 other people.

Cars from the Star whisked the duo away, taking them to a private underground entrance to the casino, where onlookers say they enjoyed themselves by the pool all day before Ronson's set at the DJ deck on Friday night.

Insiders report the celebrities will see in the new year in Sydney before driving to Canberra airport where they plan to fly out on the same jet, avoiding Sydney airport curfews, en route to Las Vegas, which is 17 hours behind Sydney.

DiCaprio forged a relationship with Echo Entertainment, the parent company of the Star's boutique hotel The Darling, while filming Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby and often visited the casino complex.

On Friday night, he was tipped to be having dinner at Icebergs followed by drinks at Tim Holmes a Court's and Daimon Downey's Double Bay bar, Pelicano.

The Oscar winner Foxx, who stars with DiCaprio in the Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained, which is yet to be released in Australia, flew in with his wife and daughter.